A study on steam-water two phase flow distribution in a rectangular channel with different channel orientations

Abstract

Experimental study on steam-water two phase vertical and inclined upward flow (15–90°) was performed in a rectangular channel with cross section of 17 mm × 10 mm under atmospheric pressure to investigate the phase distribution and the average void fraction in the cross section which were obtained from the local void fraction measurement by a conductivity probe. The inlet superficial velocities of the steam and water varied from 0.72 to 3.85 m/s and from 0.11 to 0.3 m/s respectively. A high speed camera was used to identify the flow patterns. Experimental results show that the phase distribution curves are significantly affected by channel orientation and the average void fraction first decreases and then increases with the increase of orientation. Based on the drift-flux model, two parameters, namely, the distribution parameter (C0) and the drift velocity (Ugm) have been studied in detail. Both the distribution parameter and the drift velocity are found to be functions of orientation. The distribution parameter decreases with the increase of orientation while the drift velocity first increases and then decreases with the increase of orientation., Based on the experimental data, an improved drift-flux model is proposed especially for the slug and churn flow, which predicts the void fraction in an inclined channel with good accuracy.